Carmelitas

Charlie's mom made these when we were at the lake. She thinks "life is to short to cook the same thing twice" so into the trash the recipe went. Luckily, the internet is a good place to track down JD's creations. Look for them here, at All Recipes.

And they are not part of my "ski shape" plan. They left the house and were fed to the teachers at my weekly seminar, and a few have been packed in Charlie's lunch box this week.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 9x9 inch square pan.
2. Combine the 1 cup flour, baking soda, oats, brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix to combine, mixture will be very crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool slightly then sprinkle over the crust the chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Mix the caramel ice cream topping with the 3 tablespoons of flour and drizzle over the chocolate chips. Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. You will need to break it into small pieces to cover.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Let bars cool before cutting.

I doubled this recipe because a 9x9 pan is tiny. I baked it in a 10x15 pan. I didn't measure the caramel topping and just poured the entire jar. It may have been too much caramel and the cookie base may have been too thin to handle it.

Sticky, but yummy. I'll play with this one some more and figure out better proportions.

I'm talking to you.

Ski Shape! We will be on the slopes in less than 3 months, and I want to be able to get into my ski pants. I mentioned the potential for a break down when I pulled out my ski clothes come December and have to make an emergency trip to REI with the after Christmas crowds. Charlie only chuckled. Been there, done that. But really, ski pants are not in my budget so I am trying to motivate and remind myself that I can shed a few more pounds in the name of saving money and feeling better.

Lovin'

• Pool boys
• Lingering summertime temperatures
• Making soup
  
• Waiting for Fall weather
  
• Baby food cubes
• Kisses
• Working ahead
• Notes in the mail
• Packages
• Surprises from the Easter Bunny in September
• Looking at pumpkins
• New recipes
• Deep sleep
• 80s play lists
• Giggles

Big Boy

He's been looking so grown up to me lately. I have been putting labels on some of his things in preparation for mingling with other children in the near future, and there is just something about that that makes him seem like a big boy.

Baby Food

Freddie is like a little bird when we are eating. He looks longingly at your cookie or burger. It is pretty pitiful. I just have to give him some of whatever it is, no matter what it is for the most part. He really, really enjoyed the gingery cookies on our Delta flight last week. I have been doing better at figuring out what he can eat from the meal I am cooking for dinner and try to set a little aside before making it too salty or spicy for him to enjoy.

Baby food is expensive. I figure when I give Freddie jarred food I am spending $2-3 per day currently and as he gets better at eating that is only going to go up. So in addition to feeding him foods we eat, we've been making our own food!


The Beaba is awesome and was well worth the $150. I know we will more than break even on it. It steams and purees the food all in the same little container.


I almost just invested in a regular steamer and food grinder, but I am *so* happy with this. It is small enough that I don't mind it on the counter so I can toss in stuff that I am preparing for the "adult" dinner.


After steaming and pureeing, the puree gets poured into an ice cube tray. The 2.5 cup pitcher will produce enough food to just about fill up an ice cube tray. The cubes are then popped into plastic bags for storage. I figure Bug is eating about 3 cubes per meal along with some rice cereal or oatmeal.


So far we've got:

• apples
• pears
• pears and pineapple mixed
• sweet potatoes
  
• acorn squash and corn mixed (a favorite of his)
  
• acorn squash
• butternut squash
• peaches
• mangos
• blueberries
  
• blueberries and pears mixed
  
• carrots (really likes one cube carrot and one cube apples mixed)
  
• spinach (likes this mixed with some baked potato)

I think we'll browse the produce section tomorrow and dream up some other yummy purees for you, my dear Freddie. Looks like we need more veggies.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about

Freddie's slumber last night:

• Sleep: 6.30 pm-11.30pm
• Nurse, both sides, back to sleep
• Sleep: 11.50pm-5.30am
• Nurse, both sides, back to sleep
• Sleep: 5.50am-8.15am

Whoot! That's 14 hours of sleep! Amazing. He's been doing a similar schedule after working things out post weekend trip to OKC.

I've read 4 books on sleep, and am now feeling better about sleep habits on Bordeaux.

The Baby Sleep Book by William Sears: This one stinks. A little too wishy washy for my taste. I don't even know how to describe it beyond that. I loved Dr. Sears' Pregnancy Book and the Baby Book is good too but this one was not very helpful. I also must say though that the content it is not completely unexpected given Dr. Sears's philosophies on parenting and child rearing.

Babywise by Gary Ezzo: Somewhat helpful in that it was my first read of babies living in cycles of 3-4 hours with 1/2 to 1/3 of that time being spent asleep. It is the polar opposite of Dr. Sears' book. It recommends schedules over cues and signals from your baby and recommends letting babies cry it out. It also firmly opposes cosleeping. I am not a cosleeping type parent but the rigidity of it all was a turnoff.

Ferber's Solve your Child's Sleep Problems: This is the method that EVERYONE recommends and says they've employed with success but NO ONE has been able to give me details about it. I want to know exactly how others have implemented Ferber techniques with their babies, how long they let babies cry, how they soothed, and how long babies took to adapt. We tossed around the idea of doing this but I wanted to hear the nitty gritty detail of doing it to figure out exactly how we were going to do it.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Mark Weissbluth: This has been the most helpful book. You know why? Because it affirms what is already happening in our house. Ha! How do you like that?!?

Before I get into that, the book appealed to me from the start because I have firm beliefs, backed by current medical research, that adequate sleep has an enormous impact on overall health and happiness and the book echoed that sentiment, discussing the importance of adequate sleep for a baby. I certainly think the amount of sleep people (and babies) need varies, although often underestimated, but overall I don't think enough importance is given to adequate sleep.

So on to how it discussed out current sleep situation. Most of what I read recommended a good 13-15 hours of sleep for a baby Freddie's age. The schedule set forth in this book:

1. Wake at 6am, but many babies will return to sleep after a bottle or nursing or just a bit of wake time. Freddie is right there, and he can be lulled back to sleep if I focus.
2. Morning nap lasting at least an hour, preferably 2. Now we are not hitting that 2 our nap length but he does get an hour.
3. Afternoon nap lasting an hour, preferably 2. Again, not 2 hours, but napping.
4. Sometimes babies like a late afternoon nap. Freddie will sneak in a little nap around 4.00pm sometimes.
5. Early bedtime, meaning 6pm. Freddie has no problem going to bed at 6.30 pm.
6. Breastfed babies wake once or twice a night because they are hungry and should be fed, (Yes! I knew it.) but they should return to sleep without issue. Freddie does just this.

I was really, really happy to read that whole "feed the hungry baby" part. I had trouble with the thought of not feeding a hungry Bug. The book recommends a schedule but it has more fluidity than what Babywise outlined.

BUT, I must say that if your baby is not following the sleep patterns recommended in the book, it recommends some sleep training, and the recommended methods of sleep training were far more hardcore than the Ferber methods, i.e. letting baby cry for at least an hour and even if your baby cries enough to make himself vomit, wait until he has gone to sleep before cleaning him up.

Freddie sometimes gets into a pattern of waking every 2 hours and so I imagine during these times some "training" would be appropriate, but I am not so sure I'd be carrying out the methods recommended here. It is those times actually that I find the most frustrating because I thrive on predictability. No comments from the peanut gallery needed on that last statement.

The book also discusses bed time routines, something we currently have, but are looking to expand to help Freddie sleep better when we travel. (This is an appropriate place for the peanut gallery to weight in!)

I suppose the most comforting thing is just knowing that I am not necessarily doing something that is going to forever ruin Freddie. I don't want to feel like I am doing something to contribute to or prolong bad habits.

Next up: The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg.

And by the way, we are also in the midst of reading parenting books too. The current selection is Love and Logic by Jim Fay. Any recommendations here would be appreciated as well.

Our clinic

Our clinic (pre CCRM) shut down "indefinitely." Evidently there was a class action lawsuit filed in July because of mislabeling of embryos. Wow. While there is not anything yet in the news about embryos being mixed up during transfers, I imagine that there must be more of that going on around the country than I personally care to think about. Certainly there should be checks in place, but I hope this does not lead to regulation making ART more expensive or unattainable for families.

Thankfully there is no doubt that Freddie is 100% our genetic material, being conceived in glorious Maine without clinical assistance. And I suppose it is a good thing we're not fretting over frozen embryos stored there waiting to be transferred to my uterus, but all in all it does make me wonder about the level of care and attention of the entire process during our nearly 2 years of treatment.

Since I am on the topic of my eggs, Charlie's sperm, and such, please know that we chat almost daily about further expanding our family. The plan is to actively try on our own in January with the help of ovulation predictor kits. If after six months we have not had any luck, I'll head in to talk it over with Dr. M. In my 2 postpartum check ups I'd say he was our biggest cheerleader and didn't in any way try to hide his feelings that we should commence Operation UmBaBay Part Deux right away.

I imagine we may try a visit to Maine before worrying about examining embryo labels in 2010. We fully expect to visit CCRM sometime in 2010 but would be pleasantly surprised if lobster tails and chow-dah do the trick.

30 Weeks

I think you have grown quite a bit over the last few weeks. You are quickly outgrowing all of your clothes. Aunt Mary got you a few fall outfits to grow into over the next month or so and as I look at them I know it won't be long before you are filling them out but at the same time they look more like clothes for a little boy and not my baby.


You still like to stand far more than sit or even lie down. You think you can stand all on your own and are often itching to let go of my hands to bend over and get your spoon from the floor. You are becoming a pro at pulling yourself up and even from a lying position you can now get your knees under you and then get to your feet and pull yourself up to a stand.

I love my spoon!

You also think you can swim. Yesterday at the pool you were intent on maneuvering away from me and joining the grey haired men doing kicking exercises in the pool. All that splashing was something you had to get in on.


I wonder how long it will be until you crawl. You have been trying to move the knees but you just can't get the arms moving too. Today you figured out that it is easy to slide all around on your back if you just push yourself along. I wonder if that will become the preferred method of transport now.

What is in my mouth? My tongue?

I am amused by your babbling as you are really getting into moving that mouth. You've discovered your tongue this week and have gotten it involved in your making raspberrries. I find you chewing on it pretty regularly. You say mamamama when you're tired or need some cuddling or just want to be held. Works every time, my little man.

There's that tongue again.

You are very social and love to get the attention of strangers. This week on a few separate occasions you were able to get the attention on some babies, and you were so tickled by them. You giggled and squealed and flapped your arms. Those babies didn't quite know what to make of you.


You suck that bottom lip a lot. Your Papi told me today that he used to do that when he was a boy and his mama was always on him to stop. I wonder if that is something we'll be after you to stop one day.


After a year on the waiting list, the childcare center we picked for you called to say they finally had an opening and were ready for you. I was so thankful to be able to explain that we would not be needing to take that spot this year. I am having so much fun with you each day. I love watching you change and develop.


Oh, and by the way, you've been doing much better with the sleeping. Please, please keep it up.

6 Month Baby Pictures

Well, the 4'9", 95 lb., strictly business until it comes to making your baby smile Asian photographer at KMart was sorely disappointed that I did not go with the photo of Freddie on the bicycle which he labored over.


I thought the pond backdrop and styrofoam rock were about all I could take.


But look at my boy's cheesy grin.


And no, he's not a girl.

Cheesy Orzo

I found this on MomAdvice, a site I frequent, and you can also find it on the Food Network.

We already do angel hair pasta with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan every once in a while, but I'd never thought to use orzo.

I served this as a side to ribs, something we eat about once every other week. I usually make corn pudding with ribs, so this was our "shake up" of the week. Way to keep it interesting, right?

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans (14 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth or stock
• 2 cups orzo pasta (enriched rice may be substituted)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat a 8 inch pot with a tight fitting cover over moderate heat.
   
2. Add oil, onion and garlic and saute for 2 or 3 minutes.
   
3. Add broth to the pan and bring to a boil.
   
4. Stir in orzo and return broth to a boil.
   
5. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer.
   
6. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until liquid is absorbed and pasta tender.
   
7. Remove lid and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Your
8. favorite fresh herbs may also be stirred into the orzo or rice to strengthen the flavor even more.

I didn't do the onion this time. I may stir in some fresh spinach or other veggies next time towards the end of cooking so perhaps then I'll use the onion.

Flu Shot

The wooden spoon was about the only
thing to make him happy today.

Bug got his flu shot today.

I hesitated on getting this for him only because I have never, ever had a flu shot. I am uber healthy and rarely get sick and have never had the flu that I can remember. Charlie has asthma and it is recommended that he get a flu shot, and he gets it each year, and each year he ends up in bed for days with a bout of flu.

Anyway, he has a second dose scheduled in a month. We better remain flu free around here.

My boy has been over the top cranky since yesterday. The shot ain't helping things. I hope this is just the teeth coming in and it is over quickly.

On the Road, Again

We were in Oklahoma for the weekend, visiting Charlie grandmother and Aunt Mary. Bug's a great traveller if you don't take into account the fact that the child does not sleep away from Bordeaux Street. He's got people to meet, places to go, and there is no time for sleep. Who are these kids I see sleeping in airports in their parents arms or lounged in their car seats in restaurants?

Charlie's grandmother talks to Bug
photo courtesy of Charlie's iphone

So needless to say, we are worn out...and I didn't take any pictures. Sigh. Bad mama.

Getting indoctrinated, Boomer Sooner
And loving GG's wooden spoon

But it was fun to spend some time hanging out in Oklahoma City, enjoying the cooler temperatures, sharing yummy meals, and watching football.

We are grounded until December, no flights, but we are cooking up a few road trips. Hours and hours in the car with the Bug shall be interesting!

Zuppa Toscana

Leftovers! Forgot to take a photo at dinner.

Yep, this is on the menu at the Olive Garden. I am a soup eater, but not Charlie. This is one soup Charlie likes. I mean it has bacon and Italian sausage in it....what's not to like.

Too bad it is 85 degrees here. Not exactly soup eating weather.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
  
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale (chopped)

Directions:

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper flakes and set aside.
   
2. Sauté bacon, onions and garlic.
3. In an stockpot, mix together the chicken bouillon and water/broth, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
4. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage.
7. Add kale just before serving.

You know I had to use more than 4 tbsp bacon. And more kale would probably be good as well. It was a little salty for my taste, so perhaps cut back on the bouillon.

Working out

I leave him alone for a minute and I find him on his knees. Here he is working it out for a minute in his diaper waiting for me to find his clothes.

29 Weeks

You are developing quite the will, and it is making me smile. I hope it always makes me smile.


You are still working on crawling, getting closer and closer to making forward progress each day. I think we need to talk about our approach to baby proofing the house next week. You also think you can stand on your own. You have the strength to get yourself to a standing position with some help of the furniture, but you don't quite have the balance to stay there for very long.


This week I have been wondering if I will ever end my day without looking at you in your crib. I have just stop taking one final stroke of your hair. I also wonder if your Daddy will ever end his day any other way than saying "I just love that little guy." Don't worry, I'll have him reading these posts again when you approach the terrible twos, threes, teens.


And you are jabbering away, screaming and squealing, and really testing out your voice and our responses. You've been positioning that tongue on the roof of your mouth . Is there a dadada to come?

Freddie's First Saints' Game

Well, more than it being Freddie's first game, it was our first game as parents. As much progress as we have made in parenting, we were "schooled" today for sure.


I'll keep it simple:

• One super cute family decked in Saints' gear
• No nap, all day
• Torrential downpour walking to the game (frizzy hair and wet feet but a dry baby under the umbrella)
• Gave him a salty giant pretzel in an effort to occupy him. Yummy salt!
  
• Bouts of tears as a reaction to The Daddy's extreme emotion
• Teether dropped on the sticky Dome floor, wipe off, and stuck back into the mouth
• Explosive diaper changed on the concourse
• Peeing all over during diaper change (this is the first time in a long time for this, but I would expect that he'd have to do it here!)

• Bottle of freshly pumped breastmilk spilled in diaper bag as lid wasn't on tightly
• Neither The Mama or The Daddy checked to make sure there was a nipple on the bottle
• Breast feeding session in the handicapped stall of the restroom since the bottle has no nipple on it
  
• Standing in the stall nursing for a LONG time as The Bug is very distracted by the announcer calling plays through the bathroom speakers.

• Might as well be nursing in a bar because everyone smokes in the bathrooms.
• Women outside the stall imply that the lady taking so long in the handicapped stall is smoking, to which The Mama shouts out, "Lady, I'm in here breastfeeding." Bathroom goes silent.
• Plans for a family photo scrapped. All pictures are taken with the phone, as I am too involved entertaining The Bug to dig out the camera.
  
• The noise level on touchdown runs scares The Bug, along with his not quite understanding his father's intense display of emotion. The Saints had an unusually high number of touchdown drives.
• Mesmerized by the Southern Band half time performance and got "jiggy" when "Halftime" played at each kickoff
  
• Lots of giggles and smiles at the fans behind us.

• Inhaled the boozie breath of Uncle Lee but really enjoyed his silly faces.
  
• We finally gave in and left at the end of the third quarter.
• A worn out family made their way back to the car, wondering if we just subjected our sleep deprived kid to child abuse.
  
• We'll do better next time. I promise, Bug. But just in case, I am calling up Stephanie, babysitter extraordinaire, to see if she is up to coming over on game day, for her mere $10/hour fee.
  

28 Weeks

Bug, good thing you're so cute...because as tired as your mama is, it all seems to fade away when she sees you smiling in your crib. Your sleep is a lot less predictable this week than last with your waking 4+ times a night. I am trying to view these late night visits as opportunities for loving and cuddling, and your sweet little warm body snuggled up close makes it easier.


You are growing so quickly it seems these last few weeks. You are finally filling out your 6 month outfits, which is just right. I wonder why you are so tiny as far as percentiles go.


You are getting close and closer to crawling each day. You get yourself up on your knees, and then after a bit of rocking you lunge forward. Success, but merely inches, and so very frustrating. It seems as though you'll be pulling yourself up to stand before you crawl. That is the most interesting exercise for you right now and you don't get as frustrated with that as you do with crawling.


Changing your diaper has become more challenging as you can't sit still for that long. And you've discovered your penis so you've got to have a hand on it at all times. What's up with that?


You're getting more hair, your eyelashes are curling, and your personality is shining. You are certainly looking more and more grown up each day.


You are so happy.

Lead Level

Talked to Nurse D today.

Blood lead level is 3. Hmmm. Of course 0 is what I had hoped for, but they tell you anything up to 9 is considered "normal." Not exactly reassuring, but we'll go with it and test again at our next visit (or perhaps at 12 months).

We've submitted soil samples for testing and we will be testing our water soon (my guess is Charlie will do it tonight while I am at seminar. Hint, hint.)

Oh, and he was not anemic either. Not sure why that was tested, but it was. I think I need to do some reading.

Lovin'

• Three day weekends for Charlie
• Hummus with sun dried tomatoes
• "He's doing it! He's moving forward!"
• Banging the wooden spoon
• Sleeping in with The Daddy and The Bug downstairs
• The latest chicken concoction: chicken parmesan
• Football on the tube, nonstop
• Little Saints jerseys
• Big Saints jerseys
• Hand me downs
• Booked flights
• Mirrors in the bathroom
• Baby food ala The Daddy
• Fall beach trip planning
  

Stuck in Reverse

I found him just rocking away on his knees but he pushed himself down before I could get the camera on. Poor guy just can't get those knees back underneath him.

I am looking into a dust mop attachment for the onesie!

27 Weeks

Freddie, you amaze me week after week with your development. I know, all normal baby stuff, but so fun to watch you get something or figure something out.

Puckering up

You are communicating more and more in ways other than crying, although you certainly have proven to have quite the will, protesting with screams my leaving the room or taking away something you are determined to have. You are waving "hello" when someone new enters the room. You're not quite on board with the goodbye waves but I know that is coming. You are tugging on my shirt when you're interested in nursing. You are even cuddling up when you're ready to nap. And best of all you are smacking those lips, which are kisses, of course. And if you don't mean them to be kisses, by the end of next week I am sure you'll realize they are kisses as often as I tell you and respond to your "kisses" with kisses on your neck and toes and belly.


This week you discovered how to turn off and on the musical aquarium hanging in your crib. A crude slam with your feet and it was on and another it was off. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat, Repeat. All at 3.00 am for us to listen to on the monitor. Over the past few days you have become more skilled and manage to do it with just the slightest movement of your toes. Using those feet is certainly an Olav.esen trait.

"Ah, Mama, can't you see I've fallen over? That means put that camera down."

You're very interested in string these days. You can sit for great lengths of time reaching for and tugging at my shoelaces, and you always manage to get the drawstring from my shorts into your mouth. And lucky for you the condition of my abdomen these days means a drawstring almost every day.


And as for sleeping, you've been pretty consistent with 6 hours in a row. I am not sure I can ask for more than that from you right now. So you are asleep between 6.30 and 7.00 pm and up around 12.30 am to nurse. After that you are up again between 4-5.00 and sometimes we start the day then, and sometimes you want to put in another hour or two.

So fun to hold on to new things to stand. You're squealing with delight.

We've been staying home a lot more the last few weeks. I haven't felt much like running the streets with you and you seem to be getting into a better napping routine. Maybe next week we'll rejoin the world and get back to our pool and grandparent visits.

Rocking on those knees and laughing!

You're eating more and more "solid" food. You had a taste of "pasta" puree the other day, and loved it. I, however, thought it smelled like Chef Boyardee, but if you like it, I can tolerate the gagging. I was surprised that you weren't too interested in the avacado I masshed for you, and as much as you like carrots, the homemade batch was not a big hit. I am thinking maybe the texture was a little too grainy and not as smooth as the Gerber variety.


I've started my seminars so you're getting to spend some time with the Daddy some evenings. It's good for all of us but I do wonder what is going on at home without me. I am sure there will be lots of Bug and Daddy secrets with football games on the tube almost every night real soon and more football viewing food and beverages around the house.


Crawling is on the horizon. You're getting more and more comfortable with your knees tucked under your bottom. I can tell you are concentrating very hard...because your tongue is wagging back and forth...and you give a hard push, only to find yourself scooting backwards rather than forwards. You don't handle this so well, but we cheer you on and sometimes you'll give it another go.


And by the way, your Daddy loves your pictures with that pillow. I'm glad you like it so much because we won't be getting rid of it any time soon.